News outlets reported incorrectly that a Nebraska school district was planning to prohibit teachers from referencing students as boys and girls or ladies and gentlemen. But the desire to create a genderless society in America does exist.

Lincoln Public Schools Superintendent Steve Joel said Oct. 9 that "there's 'absolutely no truth' to news and blogger accounts that his district is mandating that teachers replace the terms boys and girls with gender-neutral terms," the Omaha World-Herald reported.

The superintendent explained that a committee at Irving Middle School obtained materials from a group called Gender Spectrum that included a tip sheet for creating an environment of gender inclusiveness.

The World-Herald reported, "Instead of calling kids with phrases like 'boys & girls' or 'you guys,' the tip sheet said teachers could say 'calling all readers,' 'hey campers' or 'could all of the athletes come here.' Students could be divided into groups assigned names. That way, for example, a teacher could ask 'all of the "purple penguins" to meet at the rug.'"

Superintendent Joel said nothing has been mandated in the Lincoln School District pertaining to gender inclusiveness. "The recommendations in the materials have not been adopted as district policy," he said.

Joel did say district officials will seek ways to make every student feel comfortable, adding he has no data on how many children enrolled in his district identify themselves as something other than a boy or girl.

"That's not data that we would commonly collect. We don't ask," Joel told the World-Herald. Russ Uhing, director of student services for the Lincoln district, said teachers and administrators have asked for help in dealing with transgender children, the World-Herald reported.

According to the American Psychological Association, transgender is an umbrella term used to describe individuals whose gender identity, gender expression or behavior does not conform to their biological gender.

While reports concerning the banning of gender exclusive language in the Lincoln School District were inaccurate, they highlight the existence of a movement pushing for a genderless society. Initiated by homosexual activists, this movement wants any and all sexual expression to be viewed as natural, normal and healthy. It also wants references to male and female to become extinct.

American culture wrongly accepts the claims of this movement because we have allowed the reality of healthy sexuality to be jettisoned.

Male and female sexuality exists, among other reasons, for the purpose of procreation. Some sociologists insist incorrectly that sex is intended only for pleasure. But while few would disagree about the reality of sexual pleasure, the main purpose of male-female sexual complementarity is procreation.

In the biblical account of creation, God instructed man and woman to "be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth." The reason there are males and females of every mammalian species is for the purpose of reproduction.

If mammals reproduced in another fashion, if mammals were planted as seeds then harvested, perhaps sexuality would be irrelevant. But that is not how they procreate. Gender distinction is necessary for preserving the human species.

Those who seek to revise the norms of human sexuality point to homosexual behavior among animals. However, if there ever was a species of animal that was exclusively homosexual, it no longer exists. It would have become extinct because there would be no procreation.

There is a benchmark for normal sexuality and it is heterosexuality. Males and females exist to procreate. Yes, there are aberrations where couples can't procreate, or choose not to procreate, but they are deviations from the norm.

If the concept of male-female sexuality is ever replaced by homosexuality, transgenderism or bisexuality, the human race will slouch toward extinction. Perhaps the Lincoln School District should consider that as part of its discussion on a gender inclusive environment.

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Since 1833 the Biblical Recorder has served North Carolina Baptists as the Baptist State Convention's official news journal - with the emphasis on news. The paper was founded by Thomas Meredith, an early pastor, writer and denominational statesman in North Carolina.